CHAPTER XXIII
"I see Captain Ben!" suddenly called Rose, pointing toward the bushes which could now be seen to be moving.
"I'm glad of that!" exclaimed Mrs. Bunker, and Captain Blake and his sailor friend dropped the clubs they had taken up.
"Did they catch any tramps?" asked Laddie.
"I don't see any," replied Russ.
And as his father and the others of the party came into view, pushing their way through the bushes, it was noticed that they had not captured any of the ragged men.
"What's the matter?" asked Captain Blake. "Did they get away from you?"
"Yes," answered Captain Ben. "The rascals skipped out. They must have heard us coming and have run down to the beach on the other side of the island. There the tramps piled into a boat and went away."
"What sort of boat?" asked the seaman who had come with the jolly sailors.
"It was a motor boat," answered Daddy Bunker. "But they had a rowboat also, towing behind."
"And I think it was the same rowboat they took from me," went on Captain Ben. "And I shouldn't be a bit surprised if they had taken the motor boat, also."
"Oh, they must be terribly bad men!" exclaimed Vi, in such a funny voice that every one laughed.
"They are bad," declared Captain Ben. "That's why I want to catch them. They'll be hanging around here all winter if we don't drive them away, and they'll be taking things that don't belong to them. Captain Blake, will you help me?"
"Help you in what, Captain Ben?" asked the other captain, while the six little Bunkers looked and listened.
"Will you help me catch those tramps? We can take after them in our motor boats. I saw which way they went. I believe they're heading for Oyster Cove. We can round them up there. Will you come?"
"I most assuredly will!" exclaimed Captain Blake.
"And we'll come, too!" shouted the sailor boys.
"Then can't I come?" asked Russ. "I could steer a boat or throw stones or—something!"
"I'm afraid this will be no place for little boys," answered Captain Ben. "We might as well hurry," he added. "I'm sorry to end our island picnic," he remarked to Mrs. Bunker, "but we must get those tramps."
"Do you want me and the children to stay here on the island while you men go down to Oyster Cove and capture the tramps?" asked the mother of the six little Bunkers. "If you do——"
"Oh, no! I wouldn't think of that," answered Captain Ben. "As I said, I hate to spoil the picnic, but I think it will be best for you to take the children back to my bungalow. Then Captain Blake and I will go with the sailors, catch the tramps, and take away the things the ragged men stole."
"Perhaps that will be best," said Mrs. Bunker. "We have had a good time here, and it is almost time to go back home."
There was so much excitement going on, and such a prospect of more that might happen, that the six little Bunkers did not at all mind leaving the island. They were always ready for something new, were the six little Bunkers, and this chase after the ragged tramps was decidedly something new.
"If you catch 'em will you bring 'em back for us to see?" asked Vi, as the two parties prepared to leave the island.
"No, I think we'll take them right to the lockup," answered her father. "But come now, gather up everything, and we'll start back. If we let the tramps get too far away it will be hard to catch them again."
Soon the six little Bunkers were once more in Captain Ben's boat, and on their way across the bay to the bungalow. Captain Blake and his sailor boys went at once in the direction of Oyster Cove, there to round up the tramps if possible.
"I'll come and join you as soon as I leave the six little Bunkers safe," Captain Ben called to his friend Captain Blake.
"Who'll take care of us after you and daddy go back to get the tramps?" Rose asked, as the boat neared the dock.
"There will be plenty of neighbors around," her mother answered.
Word soon spread through the little colony at Grand View that the tramps, who had stolen many things during the late summer, might soon be caught, and several men joined Captain Ben and Daddy Bunker in the motor boat that was to go to Oyster Cove.
"But there will be no danger from the tramps," remarked Mr. Wendell, the next door neighbor, whose rooster had tried to fight Laddie that time. "The tramps must know they are being chased, and they'll get as far away as they can."
"I hope they don't get so far away that daddy and Captain Ben can't catch 'em!" exclaimed Russ.
Russ, Rose and the others stood on the pier and waved their hands to Captain Ben and their father, who departed in the motor boatSpray, together with several volunteers who wanted to help catch the tramps. Then the six little Bunkers went up the hill to the bungalow. They were tired after their outing on the island, and for once they did not tease their mother to provide them with some amusement.
Margy and Mun Bun found two of their dolls and were satisfied to sit down and play with them for a time. Laddie found a picture book and took it off in a corner. Vi got out her sewing basket and began work on a dress for her doll. But as she had been working on this same dress all summer, and as it was not nearly finished yet, it seemed as if her poor doll would have to go out and buy something to wear, Russ said.
Russ had brought in some wood for the fire his mother wanted to start in the kitchen stove and Rose was getting ready to help set the table. When these tasks were done Margy and Mun Bun came up to Rose and Russ who were sitting down, resting.
"You please be doctor," begged Mun Bun of Russ.
"And you be nurse. Our babies are sick," said Margy to Rose.
"What in the world do you mean?" asked Russ.
"You be doctor and bring medicine to the dolls in a satchel," went on Margy, pulling at the sleeve of Russ. "I'll show you where the satchel is. You put medicine in, and come and be doctor."
"Oh, she wants you to get a satchel and pretend you're a doctor and bring medicine like Dr. Gage brings to our house," said Rose. "And they want me to be a nurse. We'll play with you a little while, until supper is ready, Margy," she promised her little sister.
"And Russ be doctor," begged Mun Bun.
"Yes, Russ'll be doctor," went on Rose. "Get that old valise we brought from home with us," she went on, "and make believe it has a lot of pills and medicine in it, Russ. We'll keep Mun Bun and Margy quiet while mother finishes getting supper," she whispered to her big brother.
"All right, I'll be the doctor," promised the oldest Bunker boy. "Where's the valise?"
Rose showed him where, put back in a hall closet, was an old satchel in which some odds and ends had been put the last minute for the automobile trip from home. With this in his hand, and pretending to be a doctor, Russ walked up to the playhouse Mun Bun and Margy had made for themselves in one corner of the living room.
"Which is the sick baby?" asked Russ, just as Dr. Gage might have done. He looked at the dolls which Mun Bun and Margy had.
"They're both sick," said Margy, "and they both want a lot of medicine."
"Well, I'll give one some red pills and the other some green," said "Dr. Russ." He dropped his satchel of make-believe medicine to the floor and was about to look at Margy's doll, when Rose gave a startled cry and pointed to the old satchel.
"Look! Look!" she cried. "See what was in the old valise!"